


After the Rush Comes the Fall

by Mara



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Gen, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe should have remembered he was the only one who was properly trained to deal with the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the Rush Comes the Fall

Only Joe's own exhaustion could have kept him from realizing what would happen once the excitement of having saved a planet and destroyed much of the Zangyack fleet wore off.

He'd woken at his normal time, eaten some protein, and was doing sit-ups when Marvelous wandered in, looking as if he hadn't slept.

Joe kept an eye on him. And on Ahim, who came in next and leaned against a porthole staring out at the passing stars.

Having only two eyes, it took him a few minutes to realize that Doc and Gai had slumped onto the couch, where they remained...not moving or speaking. At which point he knew Luka would be in her crow's nest, even though it was unnecessary.

Cursing under his breath, he realized he was the only member of the crew not suffering from acute post-adrenal exhaustion. How could he have forgotten that none of his teammates was trained properly? How could he have forgotten that none of them would have expected this or prepared themselves? He'd seen their euphoria. He'd even seen Marvelous scarfing down the worst possible foods before they left Earth and hadn't thought about it.

"Stupid, stupid," he muttered. 

Marvelous glanced at him, but didn't otherwise react as he dropped into his chair.

Joe rubbed his face. They had fifteen ship days until they arrived at the Zangyack homeworld and he suspected it was going to take him all of those days to fix this.

* * *

His first step was to drag a squawking Navi onto the bridge so they could talk undisturbed. Although in their condition, he wouldn't bet that anyone would even bother to listen to what he said.

"Are they under some kind of spell?" Navi asked, fluttering around his head until Joe grabbed him and tucked him under his arm.

"No. It's something that happens to humans after...well, _after._ "

Navi turned her head back and forth a few times. "What do we do?"

"We need to get them to eat and exercise and talk to each other."

Navi's beak clicked and even the talkative bird was silenced by the enormity of the task.

* * *

He moved between them for a few minutes, trying to figure out just how difficult it was going to be...and then realized that Marvelous hadn't demanded breakfast (or lunch or dinner or whatever meal he decided it was). That was as bad a sign as ever crossed a soldier's path. Might as well spit on the emperor's image and hang your boots upside down before you ignored a sign like that.

Of everyone (except Joe), Marvelous had started in the best health, so perhaps starting with him would work. Stalking over to the dart board, Joe yanked out a dart, whipping around to throw it at Marvelous...who watched it thunk into the chair next to his face without any more than a mild interest.

It was going to be even worse than he thought.

* * *

With a sigh, Joe went into the galley. At least he knew that Doc and Gai had fully stocked up before they left Earth, so it could be worse. He dug around, considering what he could make that might tempt the crew into eating...and that wouldn't make their bodies feel worse.

He hid all the junk food he could find, from the pocky to the ume jam, at the very back of the shelves, then studied what he had left. Lots of fruit and vegetables, at least. And thank goodness for pickled fish, which would last them through the trip even if they didn't stop at any planets on the way.

But for the moment, there was plenty of fresh fish and those animal legs Marvelous liked so much. What did Gai call them? Chickens? That was easy enough for him to cook.

With a sigh, Joe set about putting together a meal. It wouldn't be anywhere near Doc's level, but listening to the crew complaining about his cooking would be an improvement over this silence.

(And wasn't that a strange thought? There was a time not that long ago he would have done anything for a few moments of quiet.)

* * *

Getting them to the table was the hardest part, but with Navi nipping at their ears and batting at their hair and Joe threatening to actually pick them up and carry them...it was finally accomplished. And once they were there, habit took over and they started to eat.

There was even a little desultory conversation: Gai explaining about going fishing in the center of Tokyo and Luka describing the man-eating fish of her homeworld.

Joe took a deep breath. One step down and a great many to go.

* * *

Joe noticed that even Marvelous didn't eat as much as usual, but they all seemed to have taken in sufficient calories and proper nutrients, so he didn't comment. As they trailed off, nibbling absently at grapes and scraps of chicken, he sighed. It was unfortunate this problem couldn't be solved by him hitting things...

Marvelous shot him a glance, obviously knowing something was up, but unwilling to ask. Joe looked around the table. "If we're going to be ready to fight when we reach the Zangyack homeworld, you're all going to have to listen to me."

"Eh?" Luka asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You're all suffering battle fatigue." He looked around at the blank faces. "We've been on alert for so long and now that we've won, your bodies are showing you how worn out they are."

Gai blinked. "Oh. Is that why..." He trailed off.

"All of you look and feel like you've been drugged? Yes."

Doc sighed. "It's never going to be like that again, will it?"

"It will," Joe said. "Remember, that's why we're going to the Zangyack homeworld."

"Yes," Ahim murmured. "But how can we--"

"You'll all feel better in a few days," Joe said, ignoring their stares at his rudely interrupting Ahim.

Marvelous tilted his head. "Why didn't this affect you?"

"I've been preparing for it all along. There are things you can do in advance." Joe closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry I never realized that the rest of you wouldn't expect it."

Ahim shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"I should have explained this to you before."

Marvelous grunted. "Water under the bridge. Now what?"

* * *

"You're joking," Luka said, hands on her hips as she stared at Joe. 

Arms crossed, he stared back.

"No, really, you'd better be joking. Because if you think I'm going to do a bunch of stupid exercises--"

"Yes, you will. All of you." Looking at the crew, lined up in the worst parody of parade rest he'd ever seen, including the time the entire patrol was called to order while stinking drunk, Joe wondered why he was even bothering.

Marvelous glanced down the line, then sighed. "What's first?"

It pained him to say it, but... "Marching in place. I'm not sure any of you is currently fit for anything else."

Everyone broke out into angry shouting at that and Joe leaned back against the central pillar and tried not to smile as he watched the first real emotions his crew had shown since they left Earth. Honestly, sometimes they were just too easy.

The worst part was that by tomorrow he really _would_ have to get them to exercise and that was going to be much more painful for everyone.

* * *

It took a full day before Doc regained enough energy to cook but by then, Joe was so grateful he almost hugged the man. Even with Doc's limited energy, the meals were much better and Joe sat down with relief to a lunch he hadn't cooked.

"Why do we feel this way?" Ahim asked.

"A sudden dropoff in stress hormones," Joe said. 

"I just keep thinking," Luka said, "that Cain is the one following our dream."

"And I can't stop thinking that I could have brought my family back," Ahim's voice had dropped almost to a whisper.

Slumping in his chair, Gai wailed, "I didn't realize how much I'd miss Earth."

Doc stared down at the table. "I can't believe I'll be able to help when we reach the planet."

Everyone looked at Marvelous, who just raised an eyebrow and took a forkful of beans. Then they turned to Joe, who shrugged. There was a lot he was willing to do, but getting Marvelous to talk about his feelings was beyond even his powers.

* * *

By the time he'd let Gai show him an entire Super Sentai scrapbook, Joe was beginning to wish he hadn't bothered boosting everyone out of their depression.

By the time he'd convinced Luka to describe her favorite pieces of jewelry, he was ready to give himself up to the remnants of the Zangyack.

By the time he'd gotten Doc to show off a new weapon he was designing and Ahim to teach him her favorite tea ceremony, he found that _he_ barely cared any longer.

Slumped on the couch, Joe knew he should get up and talk to Marvelous, but he just couldn't. The other man turned and watched him for a moment. "Care for a game of darts? An arm wrestle?"

Joe snorted, leaning his head back. "If you're well enough to figure out what I was doing, you're well enough to throw darts yourself."

Marvelous grinned, put on the bracelet, and went to get the darts from the board.

\--end--


End file.
